Central Neighborhood Improvement Association Records

The Central Neighborhood Improvement Association (CNIA) was established in 1980 by residents who had a desire to work together to reduce crime in the area. CNIA was the official neighborhood organization for Minneapolis’ Central Community until the early 2000s. The Central Community extends from Lake Street to the North, 38th Street to the South, Chicago Avenue to the East and Second Avenue to the West.

In 1980, CNIA organized to become the non-profit 501(c)3 that represented the neighborhood. Initially, the organization raised funds and received grant money to support any work they wanted to do, but when the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) began providing funding to neighborhood organizations in the early 1990s, CNIA took on a dramatically different role.

The CNIA Mission was: “To serve the residents of the Central neighborhood by providing a forum for the expression of their ideas and needs, serving as the collective voice for Central residents to impact the neighborhood, and helping to develop priorities and projects which effectively utilize the resources that are available to address the needs of the community.”

Membership was open to all members of the community, and the Board included the following categories: homeowners, renters, business owners, the poor, youth, ethnic groups, agency directors, neighborhood workers, and senior citizens. There were no membership dues. CNIA held regular monthly board meetings that were published and distributed widely by email and mail.

While CNIA had many successes, it was particularly skillful in drawing in funding and establishing working partnerships with foundations, government agencies, and other non-profits. The organization had an excellent working relationship with the two major funders for neighborhood development in Minneapolis: the McKnight Foundation and the James Ford Bell Foundation.

In May 2000, CNIA was taken over in a well-organized effort by the self-titled “Blue Crew” at CNIA’s Annual Meeting. A new slate of board members said to be more representative of the racially diverse neighborhood was elected. Jana Metge, CNIA Executive Director, was fired by the new board on May 18, 2000. Metge sued the organization claiming her firing by a new board majority was discriminatory and breached her employment contract.

A special meeting and recall election was held on September 20, 2000, but the newly elected board survived in a 120-104 vote against ousting the CNIA board. Ousted board members filed grievances with the city alleging that improper notice was given for the recall election, that voters were not asked to prove they live or work in the neighborhood as requested in a recall petition, and that the vote was improperly counted.

The new board’s failure to repay a James Ford Bell grant and its inability to secure new NRP funds led to its eventual demise. The Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO) rose out of CNIA’s Weed and Seed program to take its place. In 2006, CANDO was recognized by the city as the official registered 501(c)3 non-profit representing the Central neighborhood.